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Too many snow days?

By Katina Caraganis, kcaraganis@sentinelandenterprise.com

Updated:
03/09/2013 07:31:32 AM EST

SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE/ JOHN LOVE
Another snowstorm hit the region on Friday and many were out trying to deal with digging out. Leominster mailman Scott Piper makes his way to a house on Orchard Street in Leominster as he does his rounds during the storm.

Deciding whether to cancel school when a storm hits is as tough a call for superintendents as it is for meteorologists trying to predict the weather in New England.

And they often get feedback from parents either way.

North Middlesex Regional School District Superintendent Joan Landers received so many calls and emails from concerned parents who felt school should have been held Thursday that she issued a statement later that morning.

It's not a decision she takes lightly, she said in her statement.

"Prior to making a decision, I consult with the communication centers in Ashby, Pepperell, and Townsend who call out to their individual highway departments. On most occasions, the road condition reports vary across our three member towns," she said.

SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE/ JOHN LOVE
Mark McGrath and his son Micah, 11, shovel the heavy, wet snow at their home on Pleasant Street in Leominster on Friday morning.

She said the decision to cancel school Thursday was based on reports that road conditions were expected to deteriorate as the day went on.

"I have heard from parents the roads were fine in their area. I can only base my decision on information given as well as the weather forecast. My first concern is always the safety of our children," she said.

Landers said she took the time Thursday to listen to concerns raised by parents and community members, and those concerns are not something she's taking lightly.

"I respect each and everyone's opinion and share in the frustration of the situation," she said, while noting she spent much of the day reaching out to community members to implement a new protocol to "ensure our children's educational experience is not interrupted unnecessarily.

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She said the norm in the district should be that students will attend classes except in "extreme cases." A two-hour delay is called if members of the town highway departments need more time to clear the roads but are confident the extra time would be helpful.

Leominster Superintendent of Schools Jim Jolicoeur agreed it is never an easy decision.

"The last two calls have been difficult because the forecasting hasn't been accurate. We're usually making a call at 5 a.m. We're looking out our windows and it's snowing heavily," he said. "The forecast usually will show it's not safe to put school buses on the road with students. The last two forecasts have changed dramatically a couple hours after we made our decision."

He has a superintendent's feedback email address that parents can use, and he said his inbox was flooded after school was canceled Thursday.

"I wish I had the day back. Between these two snow days, we went into sixth and seventh snow days and now it becomes an issue where we're beyond the five days built into the school calendar," he said.

It hasn't been decided yet how the extra days will be made up during the school day.

"You always look back and question whether you could have made a different decision," he said. "All the forecasting could be hours off. The forecast we were working with (Thursday) was snow would start around 11 a.m. or noon time. We didn't want to bring kids in and have it start snowing heavily as predicted."

Landers said the decision whether to send a student to school during inclement weather should be left up to parents.

"Due to the scope of area of our schools' service, I am respectfully requesting that parents partner with the district to ensure our students attend and arrive safety to school," Landers said. "If you feel that it is unsafe to drive, please take the necessary precautions including arriving late to school or determining your child should stay home for the day. I will support your parental decision."

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